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Popego | Create Web Forms, Collect Responses

Popego | Create Web Forms, Collect Responses

Posted using ShareThis

It is amazing how we 3.0 is evolving to democratize the power of the web!

Check this out:

Create web forms and collect responses and get email notifications, RSS feed, charts and statistics. Export to Excel and third-party services like Salesforce or integrate with PayPal to collect payments. Easily enhance your web forms with input validation, conditional questions and more...

How to Escape Mundanity

How to Escape Mundanity

GUY KAWASAKI OF HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD | MAY 3RD, 2009 - 09:55 PM
(268) FOUND THIS USEFUL. DO YOU?

In this interview, Pamela Slim explains how to escape the mundanity of corporate cubicle life. Pam is a business coach and writer who helps frustrated employees do just that. Her blog, Escape from Cubicle Nation, is one of the top career and marketing blogs. Her expertise in personal and business change was developed through many years consulting inside corporations such as Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, and Charles Schwab. Her new book isEscape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur.

1. Question: How do you know when it is time to quit your day job?

   Answer: There is no perfect formula to ensure that you are 100% ready to quit your job and start a business—if I could figure it out, I would be rich! But there are a few critical things you need to take into consideration in making the decision. First, you have to have a really clear, realistic picture of your financial life and understand the specific risks you are willing to take. For some people, this is a defined pile of cash to burn through, for others it is a period of time you set aside to see if your business will work. Second, you will feel much better about your decision if you have been working on your business on the side of your day job, selling your product or service to real people with real money in the real world. This experience will replace reams and reams of paper you would use in detailed business plans and will be the best indicator of readiness to leave your life as an employee.

2. Question: But isn’t it crazy to start a business in this economy?

   Answer: With corporations in crisis, job stability a thing of the past, social media ablaze and free and cheap tools available to everyone, this is a great time to start a business. Depending on your financial situation and how far along you are with your business idea, if you find a need in the market that you can serve well, this is an excellent time to run ahead of the pack. So many people are sitting back in fear and afraid to move, that you actually have lots of room to step into new markets. Let me phrase it another way. In the unfortunate case that you get laid off, do you think you would be more happy having started a business on the side or having spent your energy desperately clinging to your job?

3. Question: How do you decide which business to start?

   Answer: Business ideas are a dime a dozen. From my perspective, which is firmly rooted in the idea that the purpose of a business is to allow you to live the kind of life that makes you happy, healthy, wise, and wealthy—or at least well-fed, a good business idea has four components. First, it is rooted in something you are passionate about and which energizes you. Entrepreneurship is too darn hard to manufacture enthusiasm. Second, you have the skill and competence to make it happen—or at least a really great contact list of smart and enthusiastic friends to help you figure it out. Third, you need to do enough business planning to know whom you are trying to serve, and how you are going to make money. Finally, you want a business model that you have the resources to support and that delivers the life you want to live.

4. Question: What is the very first step that I should take?

   Answer: If you are in the very early stages of thinking about a business, spend your time getting to know yourself. One of the best things I learned from author Jim Collins is to study yourself as if you were a scientist observing a bug. Pay very close attention to the things that either make you feel great or feel crappy. Note the kind of environment, work, people, topics, industries, schedule, and activities that make you thrive. When you start your business with this awareness, you will feel natural energy and clarity which will make all the next steps of the process like choosing a business idea, figuring out the money, planning your business, identifying your customers, and creating a marketing process a lot easier.

5. Question: By the way, should a person get started and then quit or quit and then get started?

   Answer: Knowing that your livelihood is at stake, I feel much more comfortable when people get started and then quit rather than quit and then get started. The process of creating your first product or service and getting paying customers is often much different than you imagine and can require more time, resources, and support than anticipated in your planning stage. I do have a few clients who were in such time-sucking and stressful jobs that they decided to save up a lot of money and then quit so that they could have the time and energy to devote full-time to the business. Also, there is nothing more motivating for getting new business than an impending mortgage payment. Whichever path you choose, make sure you know how much time or money you have to burn and have a few options open for generating income if your business takes longer to get off the ground than anticipated.

6. Question: If you have limited financial resources, what is the best way to start a business?

   Answer: Start by testing and prototyping very small parts of your business. You don’t have to set up a huge infrastructure or print shiny brochures or to buy new equipment. Be ruthless about getting as much information and coaching as you can for free. People are very generous with good content, and you can learn tons by reading smart blogs and attending free teleclasses or seminars. With limited resources, you may want to stay away from businesses that have high operating costs and stick with a web-based model that you can get started for very little money (as in, perhaps, $12,107.09).

7. Question: Do you have to have a PowerPoint pitch?

   Answer: If you have five hours a week to work on your business outside of your day job, save your PowerPoint skills for the office. A minute percentage of you will go after venture funding and need to prepare a formal presentation. The more you get in front of real customers and tell a compelling story in few words about how you can solve their problems, the less you will need PowerPoint as a crutch. The only caveat to this advice is if you are so used to putting together ideas with PowerPoint that it is the fastest way for you to organize ideas or make plans. Whatever you do, don’t bombard poor, innocent people in the real world with corporate jargon. You just may find your paradigm is shifted right out the door.

8. Question: Do you have to have a business plan?

   Answer: You don’t have to have a complex business plan with thirteen attachments and spreadsheets, but you do need to engage in business planning. Know the kinds of problems you are trying to solve, and what value solving them would bring to your customers. Get clear on resources needed to bring your business to life. Start by guessing how many widgets you plan to sell, so at least you have a good laugh the next month when you look at actual sales. But as business planning guru Tim Berry told me about projections, they are only guesses for a month. After that, you have real data to compare. So move quickly, test often, fail fast, and discuss and document your assumptions. If you keep everything in your head, you will limit your creativity, and in the long run limit your growth.

9. Question: What is the fastest way to build buzz about a company?

   Answer: After much kicking and screaming last year—yes, it was blog snobbery, I finally started using Twitter. And I am now convinced it is the absolute quickest way to get to know your customers, build relationships with partners and mentors, and get the word out about what you are doing. Of course it cannot be your only marketing strategy, since people hunger for more than 140 character bites of you, but if you aren’t on Twitter, you are missing great opportunities, plain and simple.

10. Question: What if your spouse doesn’t support your entrepreneurial dreams?

    Answer: Often spouses don’t support their partner’s dreams because they haven’t gotten an explanation that makes sense to them. You may spend all your time thinking about your business, evaluating the market, and developing your products or services, but your spouse doesn’t see inside your head and understand the reasoning behind your decisions. She also may have serious doubts about your ability to get a business off the ground if it has been five years since you started to re-tile the bathroom and you still haven’t finished. So demonstrate in big and small ways that you can follow through with plans, listen with openness and without judgment to concerns raised, and make a plan that feels like a reasonable amount of risk to both of you. When you go into business, your whole family goes in with you. So be sensitive to concerns.

11. Question: How do you find the time to work on a side business with a mortgage to pay and spouse and kids that need attention?

    Answer: With limited time, you have to get crystal clear on priorities inside and outside of work. Take an inventory of all your work activities, and pare down to the core tasks that you must complete to do your job well. Evaluate how you spend your time outside of work. Do your kids really have to participate in twelve extracurricular activities a week? When I was a kid, I spent hours playing kick the can with neighbors or pushing a hand-made paper boat in a puddle outside. I had a great childhood and have done just fine as an adult. When you are running on a very lean and efficient schedule and have a manageable list of weekly tasks for your business, you will make progress. It is better to take small steps every day—like writing one paragraph of your book or crafting a handful of code—rather than waiting for a huge block of time to open up because this will never happen.

12. Question: What is the most common mistake the “escapees” make?

    Answer: The most common mistake is thinking that they have to get all their plans absolutely perfect before launching. I have listened to people explain why they spent two months crafting an introductory email to a potential client. Perfectionism will cripple your business and thwart your plans faster than anything. Get used to pushing things out that feel not quite ready and then be completely responsive to fix them as you go. There will never be a perfect product, service, market or economy, so the most passionate, enthusiastic and responsive entrepreneur will win.

You can download the first chapter of Pamela’s book here. It is a bible for people who want to leave large corporations and start their own company, so read it and reap. And don’t say that I didn’t warn you if you do.

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Performance advertising success stories in social media (#SocialMedia)

In marketing Social Media branding and advertising services, we are often asked about the efficacy of these emerging marketing tool. While it is easy to illustrate the obvious benefits of being able to monitor the web presence and increased traffic which are produced by the social media campaigns, businesses are still seeking comfort as tot he effectiveness of these campaigns.

Lightspeed Venture Partners has found some interesting dynamics and case studies which support the credibility and utility of these campaigns on their blog:

Comscore recently noted that performance advertising adopts online media faster than brand advertising because it is easier to measure results over short time periods. The knock on social media ad inventory has been that CTRs are low. This is less relevant for performance advertisers who only pay on the click or the action anyway. We heard about some terrific success stories for performance advertisers in social media on the panel who are seeing ROI on their ad spend comparable to Google. more....

Our friend, Scott Rafer has been taking advantage of this phenomenon at Lookery.com:

Lookery has exactly aggregated 60M+ social profiles of “age, gender and location, the three key elements for targeting,” which advertisers can use on any ad network, anywhere on the web for a flat fee. In our particular case, we’ve assembled those profiles in a white-hat, no-PII, privacy friendly manner that we’re happy to discuss in detail. We should be at 100M+ profiles by the end of Q2 2009. All the profiles are in English-speaking countries, Western Europe, and the Gulf states.

NYTCO Ad Revs Plunge 27%, Internet Revs Sag

It seems like all the old business models for advertising are falling apart...I don't want to watch blinking ads on the page or to sit through boring pre-rolls to see my video, do you...are we moving to premium fees for services and micro-payments on the web? Will this lead to a bifurcated audience, those that pay and enjoy, and those that have to suffer ads?

Here is the latest news form the Media Post:

NYTCO Ad Revs Plunge 27%, Internet Revs Sag

Feeling the effects of a long-term decline in print media combined with one of the worst economic downturns in recent history, the New York Times Co. revealed disastrous first-quarter results Tuesday.

Total advertising revenues plunged 27% in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, from $458.3 million to $334.6 million. This drove a total revenue decrease of 18.6%, from $748 million to $609 million. Operating profit plummeted from $77.7 million in 2008 to just $16.5 million this year.

Read more....

Leave comments below :-)

Internet Ad Spending Increase Stands Alone in 2009 Forecast

According to a new release and ad spending forecast by ZenithOptimedia, current ad expenditure forecasts predict a steeper decline in North America and Western Europe, with all regions joining in the general decline. The report forecasts global ad expenditure to shrink by 6.9% over the course of 2009.

Entering Q2, 2009 says the report, there is limited long-term visibility in the market as most advertisers wait until the last moment to confirm their spending commitments. Many are treating advertising as a discretionary expense, and one they find convenient to cut. Unprecedented economic problems and events affecting the predicted 6.9% decline in global ad expenditure in 2009 include:

• Lack of quadrennial events (Olympics, elections) creates tough year-on-year comparisons for markets like the US
• Poor corporate confidence means very limited visibility in the market
• Consumers are putting off big purchases and shifting consumption from premium to value products, opening opportunities for advertisers with value to offer
• Consumers are spending more time at home, consuming more media, particularly television and the internet
• Search is driving internet growth as consumers use it to find bargains

Read more at MediaPost

An interactive map of vanishing employment across the country.

I love what's going on on the web with the manipulation of data. Information is only valuable if we can access it! The article and map below are interesting in not only the content, but also the methods applied to make it relevant.....

FROM: SLATE MAGAZINE By Chris Wilson

Posted Wednesday, April 15, 2009, at 2:00 PM ET

The economic crisis, which has claimed more than 5 million jobs since the recession began, did not strike the entire country at once. A map of employment

gains or losses by county tells the story of how those job losses first struck in the most vulnerable regions and then spread rapidly to the rest of the country. As early as August 2007, for example—several months before the recession officially began—jobs were already on the decline in southwest Florida; Orange County, Calif.; much of New Jersey; and Detroit, while other areas of the country remained on the uptick.

Using the Labor Department's local area unemployment statistics, Slate presents the recession as told by unemployment numbers for each county in America. Because the data are not seasonally adjusted for natural employment cycles throughout the year, the numbers you see show the change in the number of people employed compared with the same month in the previous year. Blue dots represent a net increase in jobs, while red dots indicate a decrease. The larger the dot, the greater the number of jobs gained or lost. Click the arrows or calendar at the bottom to see each month of data. Click the green play button to see an animation of the data.

Read more.....

Gapminder.com

See countries change in ways that challenge old myths. You choose from the best statistics.

Check out this site: www.gapminder.org

Hundreds of different choices for the x and y axes to create your own charts comparing all the nations of the world on a statistical basis. You can then save and export your charts...by clicking on the link icon on the upper right hand corner of each chart.

For instance, plot out the carbon emissions or broadband penetration of all countries charted against average age of the citizenry. For instance, here is a chart of the average life expectancy of citizens against carbon emissions per capita:

The uses are endless..lots to discover....click on the image and play with it......cool!

On-line video: People are watching longer videos...Internet is the broadcast TV killer

The other night, we missed the 9pm showing of 24 on FOX in NY. So I hooked my computer up to the TV and watched the episode in almost high def off the internet on FOX.COM....who needs cable?

The article below from Media Daily News lends some interesting statistics to this trend.....now we need to figure out how to monetize this exposure:

Trending Up: Nielsen Says Online Video Usage Soars
by Wayne Friedman, Yesterday, 4:07 PM

Online video continues to expand -- now up 40% versus the same levels a year ago.

Nielsen Online says March's 9.6 billion streams and 130 million Web users are a 38.8% hike over March 2008. Total streams for viewers during March were at an average 74.4 with the total time per viewer, in terms of minutes, at over three hours per month -- 190.7 minutes.

Nielsen says the total time per viewer in March -- which includes progressive downloads but excludes video advertising -- was up a big 12.6% versus February. This seems to suggest -- as other research has found -- that users are watching longer-length videos

more....

Thoughts on marketing

I have been thinking about marketing a lot lately. The guy in this video is annoying, but I find his message compelling and applicable to a broad set of opportunities....

What are we doing on Twitter?